Politics of Speculation

A somber mood filled the bus today. Silence. You could hear a pin drop, and the diesel motor churn. The silence was broken as we drove past Uhuru Park. The entire bus shifted their heads to the scene, where yellow crime tape marked off the roads and Kenyan army sergeants with big guns guarded the surroundings.

Then everybody started talking. It was times like these I wish I knew Swahili.

“Bloody Sunday” the headline for The Nation read. Five dead, over 70 people injured at a rally held by the ‘No’ camp of the constitution. On August 4, Kenyans will vote for a new constitution and the ‘No’ camp – also called the ‘Reds’ – is against the passage of the new set of laws.

I walked into the Assistant Town Clerk’s office at Nairobi City Hall and asked him about what had happened.

“This is normal in Kenya,” he responded, startled that such an event was on my mind. Business as usual at Nairobi City Hall.

The international news agencies felt the same way. Ethnic violence in Kyrgyzstan. Somali children carry guns. Iraqi blast hits city. The Kenyan attack barely made the regional page.

Business as usual.

~~~

Last night, however, the blast was breaking news. At 7 pm we were celebrating Ghana’s World Cup victory over Serbia, the first victory for an African club at this year’s Cup. Bringing euphoria to the African continent. Pride.

Somehow, the subject of Uhuru Park came up. “I love it,” I stated emphatically. My girlfriend and I loved walking through park. She loved seeing the schoolchildren on the boats. It reminded her of Central Park. For me, it was the sign of city life. Public space. Something I have not seen much of in African cities.

“It’s so sketchy,” our friend Melissa replied. “So many weird men just hanging out there. Creepy.”

Twenty minutes later KTN disrupted their daily programming for a breaking news update: two explosions in Uhuru Park, a grenade tore through the crowd.

The event was supposed to be peaceful. It was led by pastor’s and was on Sunday, for God’s sake. Plus, Kenya was supposed to be past this – supposed to have learned from the tragedy of 2007-8.

“Never again next time,” as a Kenyan intellectual said at the recent (Re)membering Kenya event.

Simon, our taxi driver was visually shaken. His sister called him and hour before to make sure he was okay. Just checking up on him. She is a nurse, and was working at Kenyatta National Hospital, where the victims of the blast were taken. “Four dead” she told him. She would not be going home anytime soon. The nurses would be working overtime.

The blogosphere was heating up. The KTN facebook page included: “4 all those sayin that it was a plan by Ruto n church leaders can u pliz write ur comments on a piece of paper 1st b4 putting it as a comment coz mayb u jst realiz u av commented with al stupidity in it.” “Poor fellow kenyans mai kondolenses.” “This must be a devilic work of YES camp!” “the terrorist tactics & blame game begins... is it Muslim fundamentalists, Yes camp, No camp, Maybe camp (read Yes/No camp)...? Who, we may never know, & their motives might actually deliver the opposite of what they intend!” “@Abuzaki we are going 2 search 4 u. Ur comments are fueling religious hate. We have evidence to catch and prosecute u. Watch out.” “I cn't rule out the work of radical Islam, no govn or christian can do such shit. Ppl somali is just near and big fear.”

In the cab, Kumbi joked, “Perhaps it was the ‘Yes’ camp making it look like the ‘No’ camp making it look like the ‘Yes’ camp.” While we laughed, anything seemed possible.

~~~

The “least important” secretary at City Hall was outraged. “This is demonic,” she told me. “The person who did this is not a real person. He is evil. The authorities must get to the bottom of this."

Meanwhile, the question of the day continued on the streets of Nairobi. Who did it? Was it to instill fear or garner sympathy? Was it the ‘No' camp or the ‘Yes' camp?
The debate raged loudest at the newsstands. Up the street from City Hall, six men were in a heated argument.

“Why would a ‘No’ person instigate this?” the youngest gentleman claimed. He was wearing a flashy, pinstripe suit with a bright purple tie and matching handkerchief. His cuff links sparkled, and he looked like either a hip hop producer, pastor, or politician. “They want to instill fear [he suggested of the ‘Yes’ camp], delegitimate us, make it hard for us to have our meetings.”

A gentler, older man responded. “We as Kenyans have nothing to gain from all of this. There are bad people on the ‘No’ side and bad people on the ‘Yes’ side. We just have to get to the bottom of this.”

“The ‘No’ people just want attention,” a third man chimed in. “This brings attention to their cause.”

A man with a flappers-era hat joined the circle and replied, “All of you are pointing fingers, speculating on who did this and who did that,” he fumed, as if he was above it all. “We should be praying for the injured and grieving for the lost ones' families.”

Everybody nodded, and it was quiet for barely five seconds. Then the men were back at it.

The flashy, young gentleman seemed to be practicing for a campaign speech, as he propped out his belly, “You are all entitled to speculate,” he told the group of men, who must have been 20 years his elder.

The entitlement of speculation – this is the one right that all Kenyans have.

The man continued, “We are all Kenyans. The constitution is not a political document, it is not a government document. It is a ‘National’ document.”

“Rubbish,” the eldest man said cynically. “Any document that tells us how to live, what land is ours, and how to govern is inherently political. Everything is political!”

One man, who silently stood in the corner and didn’t say a word through the entire conversation – nor did he show any type of emotion – vigorously nodded his head.

Suddenly, a man angrily turned to me and demanded, “What good have the Americans ever done to us? Whenever the Americans come, bad things happen.” Of course, he was referring to Joe Biden’s visit a few days earlier. “Things were fine before all of you came. I wonder what deals he made with the politicians. It’s the Americans' fault.”

“Come on,” one of the men interrupted. “This is a Kenyan problem. We always screw things up.”

The other man was not done. “What good has the white man done to us? First it was slavery, then colonialism. Now the Americans! Our politicians are just sycophants. Obama is not our president. He is just like all the rest. He is just…” and his voice trailed off into a climactic “Oomph.” Then he walked away angrily.

The flashy gentleman’s phone rang and he answered it and walked away. The quiet man continued eating his breakfast. A woman walked by and paid 35 shillings for a newspaper.

The day continued as usual.